DISCUSSING OBSTETRIC VIOLENCE THROUGH THE VOICES OF WOMEN AND HEALTH PROFESSIONALS

Virgínia Junqueira Oliveira,Cláudia Maria De Mattos Penna

doi:10.1590/0104-07072017006500015

Abstract

ABSTRACT Objective: to analyze the discourses of women and health professionals regarding care during childbirth, considering the situations experienced and the interactions between them during labor and delivery. Method: this is an interpretative study with a qualitative approach. Discourse Analysis was used as the research method. The research scenarios were seven maternity hospitals, belonging to the public network of the Central-West region of Minas Gerais. Interviews were conducted with 36 laboring mothers, 10 midwives and 14 obstetricians. The collected data were submitted to discourse analysis. Results: the data were organized into three categories: 1) Witnessed obstetric violence described in the discourse of the midwife: which discusses that even acknowledging the presence of this, they talk of the difficulty of guaranteeing the rights of the mother in labor in the scenario of childbirth; 2) Today everything is obstetric violence: it shows the denial of the existence of this phenomenon in the professional-patient relationship; 3) Here we have no voice: obstetric violence is present, but there is a certain consent the part of women who, in the presence of the birth, forget the way they received assistance. Conclusion: hostile treatment is one of the obstacles of the humanization of childbirth care, interfering with the choice of delivery method, and it is necessary to review the concept of obstetric violence, considering all its specifics and nuances.

Highlights

Up to the beginning of the last century the childbirth scene, was essentially feminine
In an Italian study in the Province of Reggio Emilia, it was observed that women who had their deliveries attended at private centers were subjected to a greater incidence of medicalization of labor, which did not lead to better perinatal outcomes.[4]
Considering that the phenomenon of obstetric violence is the product of a complex situation and of environments that fosters aggressive and hostile discourse and placing opposite sides of women and health professionals, this study aims to: analyze the discourses of women and professionals of care about childbirth care, considering the situations experienced and interactions built between them during labor and delivery

Summary

Introduction

Up to the beginning of the last century the childbirth scene, was essentially feminine. The delivery in the hospital environment, combined with the technological availability in health care, contributed to the organization of care as a production line, accentuating the medicalization of childbirth, whose capacity to choose becomes the sole responsibility of the physician, despite the desire of women, who loses their privacy and autonomy.[2]. This phenomenon is observed in other countries, such as Spain, where one in four births (24.9%), is carried out by caesarean section.[3] In an Italian study in the Province of Reggio Emilia, it was observed that women who had their deliveries attended at private centers were subjected to a greater incidence of medicalization of labor, which did not lead to better perinatal outcomes.[4] A survey of South African maternity hospitals revealed that inhumane and exploitative care is more prevalent in public maternity hospitals in developing countries.[5]

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Methods

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Discussion

Conclusion